India batter Tilak Varma on Tuesday visited the Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple to seek the Lord's blessings. He was accompanied by BCCI Apex Council member and former first-class cricketer V. Chamundeswaranath. They offered prayers and had darshan of Lord Venkateswara on Vaikunta Ekadasi, passing through the sacred Vaikunta Dwaram.
Officials of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams made arrangements for their darshan and facilitated their visit to the hill shrine. As India look to defend the T20 World Cup crown, Tilak’s visit to Tirupati may prove a lucky charm in what promises to be an intense and closely fought tournament.
The left-hander also visited the divine shrine in August this year, before the start of the ACC Asia Cup, where his crucial 69-run innings guided India to beat arch-rivals Pakistan in the final. Tilak's most recent outing for India was in the recently concluded T20I series against South Africa, where he led the Men in Blue to a 3-1 victory over the Proteas.
In the T20I series opener against South Africa earlier this month, Tilak made history by becoming the first Indian batter to score 1000 runs in T20Is before turning 25. He scored 26, 62, 26, and 73 across the five. The 23-year-old batter will next be in action in the T20I series against New Zealand, starting on January 21.
The games will serve as a preparatory series for both sides before they head into the T20 World Cup, scheduled to begin on February 7. India will enter the tournament as defending champions, having won the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados by defeating South Africa in the final.
India's squad for the T20 World Cup and New Zealand T20 series: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Axar Patel (vice-captain), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper).